How To Get Rid Of Back Hair? Here Are 6 Methods To Remove It

Being a hairy man isn’t necessarily a problem. I mean, beards are cool, and I’ve heard more than a fair share of women saying that they like a man with a hairy chest. A little bit of fur here and there is either sexy or not a bother.

But there is one thing that is undesirable, to put it mildly – back hair.

On this post, we’ll talk about how to get rid of back hair and ways to keep it tidy from now on.

I know that there’s no place on the body more unpleasant to get hair on than your back.

This abnormal growth is nothing to worry about, since it won’t cause any medical issues or harm. It’s mostly an aesthetic issue and won’t harm your health. We’re going to get to the ways to get rid of the back hair shortly.

Then there is Hirsutism. Hirsutism is a condition where your androgens are put into overdrive.

Too many androgens means too much hair, everywhere.

Unlike hypertrichosis, this one can actually cause some trouble. Men can experience severe weight gain and women can have irregular menstrual cycles because of it.

These cases are rare, and most men are really just trying to trim down their back hair so they can have a swim in a public pool without feeling judged.

Although there are no medical cures for these conditions, we do have some tips and tricks that could help you tame the beast.

How to get rid of back hair

There are basically five things you can do to fix back hair and only one of them is semi-permanent. You can wax, apply cream, shave, trim or get laser surgery (I’ll let you guess which one is permanent).

1. Wax it

But the good news is that the skin on the back is a bit less sensitive than the one on the chest, so it will be a bit less painful. Besides, you don’t have nipples on your back. So that’s one thing to be happy about.

Leaving that aside, the best thing about waxing is how simple and effective it is: just a layer of wax on your back and you’ll be done in no-time.

And, even more importantly, since hair is completely removed from its root, you’ll have at least 2 hairless weeks.

Besides that, if you start doing this regularly, over time, you will start noticing a decrease of the amount of hair. So painful, but magical.

Now, if you think waxing is the best option for you, I would recommend going to professional.

Not only will they get it done sooner and less painfully, but they’ll also cover all the spots on your back properly. Besides that, there’s a lot that could go wrong with waxing, although the results are great.

So especially if you have thick and/or curly hair, chose the safe side. It’s not only about reaching all the spots, but also about technique.

Waxing your hair in a random way could lead to ingrown hair, burns, irritation or even infections.

Of course, having your partner do it for you would give you more privacy and would be more affordable. But would you risk it just for the sake of a few saved bucks?

If you’re not willing to put up with this kind of pain or if your situation is not that dramatic, there’s always hair removal cream.

2. Hair removal cream

You’ll get a ton of different brands at your local grooming store or pharmacy.

It’s a case of simply slapping the cream on all over, waiting for a while and then rinsing it all off or wiping it off with the special sponge or spatula that comes with it.

No pain and no time wasted to get a clear back.

But, you’ve got to be careful with these.

You might have skin that is too sensitive and reacts badly to certain chemicals. You could also forget to take the cream off in time and end up with some serious chemical burns. Both of these results are actually worse than the hair itself.

Some other elements to consider are the fact that the cream works the same way as the razor.

It only cuts the hair, it does not remove it from it’s root, as the wax does. That means that hair will grow back much faster and will become much thicker over time.

So choose wisely, be careful with the instructions and pay attention to what you’re doing with the cream.

3. Shaving

Seeing as you shave regularly anyway, this should be the easiest solution for most men. Just grab your razor and get to work once a week or so.

It’s simple and it you probably have all the equipment lying around already, so you don’t need to spend a penny.

One thing to keep in mind before shaving is that you need to trim down the length of the back hair before shaving. Otherwise, hair is going to clog up the razor which might cause some serious irritation on your skin.

However, as with the hair removal cream, shaving only cuts the hair and does not remove it from its root. This means that it will grow back fast, thick and it will spike your t-shirt if you don’t shave it often enough.

6. Laser hair removal

Which brings us to our last option – lasers. It’s a solution straight out of a sci-fi novel.

You walk into a facility, take your shirt off, get your back zapped with lasers that shred the hair off permanently, before fighting the alien invaders and escaping the facility with the cute lab assistant.

It’s all more 007 than hair removal if you ask me and that’s probably why it costs a whole lot more too. Most places charge more than $900 per treatment and after all the sessions you need for this you’ll have a hole in your pocket the size of Jupiter.

Even though it’s advertised as permanent, there’s a catch here.

The laser hair removal treatment doesn’t finish only in one session. Usually, this might take even up to 6 sessions until all hair is gone. This heavily depends on the amount of hair that your back has, your hormones and your hair’s thickness.

However, even if the hair is gone after the completion of the treatment, there’s literally no guarantee that the hair won’t come back after one or two or fives years later.

It certainly won’t be as much hair as you removed, but this doesn’t mean that the treatment will get rid of the back hair once and for all.

If you’re wondering about the mechanisms of the laser hair removal, as opposed to waxing that removes the hair from its root, the laser actually destroys the hair follicles.

Therefore, before you decide on removing the hair by laser, consider these options and certainly, consult the clinic where you’ll remove your back hair for more detailed information.

So, what’s the best option? Well, there isn’t one.

It all depends on what you think suits you best and gives you what you need while staying in your budget. You have to pick between the five options here.

So, I’ll leave you with a pros and cons chart to help you make your mind up.

Back Hair Removal Options

Pros

Cons

Waxing

1. Less time consuming
2. Effective
3. Medium-term lasting

1. Needs a professional
2. Likely to cost a lot
3. Painful

Hair Removal Cream

1. Quick and Easy
2. Not painful

1. Requires attention
2. Short term effects in terms of lasting
3. Long term effects in term of hair thickness and spread
4. Needs two people

Shaving

1. Quick and Easy
2. Not painful

1. Usually needs two people
2. Short term effects in terms of lasting
3. Long term effects in term of hair thickness and spread

Trimming

1. Easy and safe
2. Not painful

1. It might need two people
2. Doesn’t give you a smooth back shave
3. Short term effects in terms of lasting

Hair Removal Laser

1. Permanent
2. Very effective

1. Expensive
2. Painful
3. Time consuming

There isn’t really a clear way to prevent back hair from growing back again. You just need to shave it all off and shave it regularly to keep it in check.

How to prevent back hair to appear again after you remove it

Depending on the method of back hair removal you choose and your hair growth, the hair will reappear within 2 days and 3 weeks.

With laser treatment, this might take a little longer to totally get rid of it. But once you do, it’s going to be long-lasting.

A simple routine to follow to get rid of back hair step by step

Setting a routine to get your back hair done depends on the solution you pick and the rate of growth.

If you go from male swimsuit model to complete werewolf in a week, you’ll need to be a lot more frequent with your shaves. Unless, of course, you get a laser treatment done.

Here’s an easy 6 step routine to follow and shave back hair with a razor.

Use a hair trimmer to make the hair shorter. Once you trim and get it down to the right size, shaving is much easier and safer.

Build lather in a shaving bowl -or even a coffee mug. Use a traditional shaving cream or shaving soap. Swirl the brush in the bowl until the lather is thick and rich but not dry. You need to make sure that there’s enough lubrication so that the razor glides easily on your back.

Get a safety razor or a cartridge with maximum 3 blades. Make sure that the razor is new and sharp. You want less than 3 blades so that it doesn’t clog up with hair and shaving cream immediately.

Stand on top of a newspaper and start trimming or shaving along with the grain of the hair. Short, smooth strokes should do it. Rinse the razor often with water in between strokes.

Once you finished shaving, rinse and clear your back completely. Get rid of all the hair and try shaving once again following the same steps to get the smoothest results.

Extra tips for better results

One thing that you can also do after finish shaving is to exfoliate with a mild exfoliating cream. This helps remove the dead skin and minimize ingrown hair.

If the hair on your back is very thick, consider using a pre-shave oil before applying shaving cream. This helps the razor glide easier on your skin. Make sure you rinse the razor more often since the oil tends to clog up the razor’s blade.

Safety razors might be more difficult to use on your back but they tend to cause less irritation. They’ve got very sharp blades and their gap between the blade and the safety bar is wide enough so that the lather passes through.

To build lather, consider using a boar shaving brush like the Semogue 620 or a horse hair such as the Vie-Long 04312. I highly recommend these two type of brushes since they’ve got good backbone and they’re able to gently exfoliate your skin while applying the lather, reaching deeper into the roots of the back hair.

Wet shaving enthusiast, ex-beard wearer and proud blogger of the Manliness Kit. Besides my interest in man grooming, I'm also a gadget geek (where most of my spare income goes), and passionate football (soccer) fan. I've got a beautiful girlfriend who puts up with me and my hobbies on daily basis and for that, I 'm very grateful.